Chapter 190 My Prince and Miss Achan are in Love
When Bai Xiuming left Changpingfang, Achan was still asleep. He did not go to court today, and it was exactly 9:00 AM when he arrived at the Mingjing Division.
Feng Yang was waiting at the yamen gate early this morning. When he saw Bai Xiuming coming, he first secretly glanced at his expression. Seeing that Bai Xiuming looked relaxed and seemed to be in a good mood, he breathed a sigh of relief and went to greet him.
"My lord." Feng Yang stepped forward and bowed.
"Hmm," Bai Xiuming responded, continuing on his way.
Feng Yang followed behind and whispered, "The King of the Northern Wilderness has been waiting for you in the yamen for half an hour."
Bai Xiuming raised an eyebrow slightly: "Is he still there?"
"Yes, he said he needs your permission before entering the town prison." Feng Yang felt that this excuse was a bit far-fetched. Yesterday, when the other party said he wanted to enter the town prison, he directly mentioned the Chief of the Department, but did not mention his own master at all.
But the other party was a prince who insisted on seeing his master, so he couldn't just send him away.
Bai Xiuming scoffed lightly: "Then let's meet."
Before yesterday, he may not have understood the other party's purpose, but now he does.
Bai Zhanhuang recognized Achan.
He then added, "Have someone investigate who the Lin family has been in contact with recently, and bring them back to me."
"Understood."
Feng Yang appeared serious, but inwardly he was thinking, "It seems Miss Ji is alright, but someone else is in trouble."
A moment later, Bai Xiuming stepped into the reception room and saw Bai Zhanhuang sitting in the main seat.
He wore a light purple python robe and held a teacup in his hand, but he only looked down at it and did not drink the tea. Behind him stood a woman with a respectful expression.
Bai Xiuming's gaze swept over the woman, encompassing the four realms.
Huang Wu looked up at Bai Xiuming, a hint of apprehension flashing in her eyes, before quickly looking away.
Bai Xiuming stopped in his tracks: "Your Majesty the Northern Wilderness has graced us with your presence; I am deeply sorry for not welcoming you sooner."
Bai Zhanhuang raised his eyes to look at Bai Xiuming, who was standing in the hall. The man was dressed in a vermilion official robe, without a sword or any other ornaments. His gaze moved slightly upwards and landed on the clear mark on Bai Xiuming's neck.
Those are... bite marks.
Bai Zhanhuang's hand holding the teacup trembled slightly, the lid rubbing against the cup, making a soft sound.
He withdrew his gaze, placed the teacup aside, and stood up. When he looked up again, his expression had returned to normal: "Lord Bai, you are too kind. It was I who disturbed you."
"It was the Chief's order, so we won't disturb him. Besides, the Prince is cooperating with the Mingjing Division." Bai Xiuming's voice was gentle. "Shall I have someone take the Northern Wilderness Prince to the prison now?"
"Thank you for your trouble."
Bai Xiuming tilted his head slightly, and Feng Yang, who had been standing outside, immediately walked in: "My lord."
"Take the King of the Northern Wilderness to the prison."
"Yes." Feng Yang gestured for him to enter. "Your Highness, please."
Bai Zhanhuang strode out, and as he passed Bai Xiuming, he paused slightly, turning his head to glance at the other's neck.
There was indeed a small tooth mark there, with traces of blood on it, indicating that the person who bit it used considerable force, and the mark had not been there for long.
This means that the person who left the tooth mark was close enough to Bai Xiuming that they were even together last night.
His fingers curled slightly, then clenched into a fist and hid in his sleeve.
In the brief moment of their interaction, countless thoughts flashed through Bai Zhanhuang's mind, each one aimed at ensuring the death of the person before him.
Bai Xiuming seemed oblivious to the intense malice emanating from Bai Zhanhuang. He slightly curved his lips and nodded to the other party: "Take care, King of the Northern Wilderness."
Bai Zhanhuang walked past him expressionlessly.
Huang Wu wanted to follow, but Feng Yang stopped her: "Miss, unauthorized persons are not allowed to enter the town prison. Please wait here."
Huang Wu frowned, about to say something, when she saw Bai Zhanhuang wave his hand with his back to her. She immediately lowered her head and whispered, "Your Highness, I will wait for you here."
Bai Zhanhuang followed Feng Yang into the town prison and left about half an hour later.
After leaving the Mingjing Division and getting into the carriage that had been waiting outside, Huang Wu saw that his face was ashen and hesitated before asking, "Your Highness, did Huang Lin say something he shouldn't have to the Mingjing Division?"
Bai Zhanhuang did not answer Huang Wu's question, but instead asked, "Are Princess Xueyao's people ready?"
“They’re ready. They’ve sent two fourth-realm experts who have already infiltrated Qingzhou. That should be their limit,” Huang Wu replied.
"Send Bei Yan to Qingzhou as well, and work with those two demon clans to make a big fuss, forcing the imperial court to step in and resolve the issue, and then eliminate Bai Xiuming."
If a local area is plagued by demonic disturbances, the Mingjing Division will surely step in. If the local authorities cannot resolve the issue, then the matter must be reported to the imperial court.
Since the Ming King will not leave the capital, and I've heard that Qin Heng rarely leaves the capital either, then I can only send Bai Xiuming.
This is exactly the result Bai Zhanhuang wanted.
Huang Wu was taken aback: "But if Bei Yan leaves, you'll only have Bei Huai and me by your side."
The three of them were all at the fourth realm, with Bei Yan being the oldest and strongest. The prince brought all three of them with him to the capital, but only she was publicly acknowledged.
"It's alright. The capital is safe enough. The emperor won't target me, and I won't leave the capital until this matter is resolved."
Huang Wu nodded, hesitated for a moment, and tentatively asked, "Why is Your Highness in such a hurry? Didn't you plan to take action against Bai Xiuming after leaving the capital?"
In this way, if an accident occurs, one can easily escape, although no accident will actually happen.
Bai Zhanhuang sneered: "I underestimated him. The evidence was right in front of him, but he ignored it."
Bai Zhanhuang originally thought that with the other party's shrewdness, as long as the Lin family made a move, they would definitely suspect A Chan's identity. If he sent someone to investigate in the Northern Wilderness, there would be no room for maneuver in this matter.
He had come here today hoping to add another layer of leverage to the Lin family, so that they would voluntarily separate from Achan and not feel any attachment when Achan left the capital. But now he couldn't wait any longer.
No amount of evidence could sway Bai Xiuming. He had already crossed the line and chosen Achan.
This is not what Bai Zhanhuang wants to see; he wants Bai Xiuming to die right now!
Sensing the madness hidden beneath Bai Zhanhuang's calm, Huangwu said no more, only saying, "I understand."
Bai Xiuming was unaware that Bai Zhanhuang had already set a trap for him. After the other party left Mingjing Division, Feng Yang immediately reported to him.
"My lord, the Northern Wilderness King and Wilderness Forest exchanged a few words, but I did not approach and did not hear what they said."
"Hmm, is there anything else?"
"Also, after the Northern Wilderness King left, the brothers in the prison sent word that Huang Lin was willing to cooperate, but he would only speak after seeing the Lord." After Feng Yang finished speaking, he hesitated and said, "I feel that they have ill intentions."
This "them" certainly includes the recently departed King of the Northern Wilderness.
Bai Xiuming stood up: "It's alright. I'm also curious about what kind of grand gift the King of the Northern Wilderness left for me."
Bai Xiuming entered the second level of the prison alone. After all, the desolate forest was a fourth-level area, and he was currently being imprisoned on the second level.
The cells on both sides of the desolate forest were empty and pitch black inside. He was wearing prison clothes and sitting cross-legged on the ground, his hands and feet still bound by chains.
Hearing footsteps approaching, Huang Lin turned his head and looked over until the person stood outside his cell.
“Lord Bai.” Huang Lin looked at Bai Xiuming, his eyes calm.
"What do you want to say to me?"
"Whatever Lord Bai wants to know, I will say."
Since being imprisoned, Huang Lin had remained silent even while being tortured, but after seeing Bai Zhanhuang, he has become unusually cooperative.
Bai Xiuming chuckled lightly: "The King of the Northern Wilderness is truly adept at managing his subordinates. Why don't you tell me what the King of the Northern Wilderness wants me to know?"
Huang Lin licked his lips: "You jest, sir. His Highness has never given such an order."
He didn't admit it, and Bai Xiuming didn't press him: "Since you don't want to talk about it, then forget it. Let's talk about the purpose of the Northern Wilderness King's Consort's visit to the capital first."
"The Dowager Consort is here to celebrate the old master's birthday."
Before he could finish speaking, Bai Xiuming frowned, showing some impatience: "Huang Lin, my patience is limited."
Huang Lin hurriedly said, "Secondly, it's to take the valuables from the Zhao family's secret vault and transport them back to the Northern Wilderness."
"Those things have always been kept in the Zhao family, so they must belong to the Zhao family. Why would the Dowager Consort do this?"
"The Dowager Consort thought that after the Prince got those things, he would mend his relationship with her."
"Is their relationship with their mother very bad?" Bai Xiuming asked.
Huang Lin's eyes flickered slightly: "The prince was very filial to the Dowager Consort before, but later, after that, that Miss A Chan moved into the prince's mansion, things changed a bit."
"Go on, what happened next?"
Since the topic had already turned to Achan, Huanglin continued the conversation as Bai Zhanhuang had instructed.
“My lord and Miss Achan are in love, but the Dowager Consort disagrees and, taking advantage of the lord’s absence, has sent people to kill her.”
"Are you one of the people chasing her?" Bai Xiuming pointed out the key question directly.
Huang Lin lowered his head: "Yes."
"And then, why did you let her escape?"
"Because she detonated her inner core, we were all injured, which allowed her to escape successfully."
Bai Xiuming fell silent. At first, he chose to believe A Chan's words because he couldn't prove that she had possessed someone else's body, and also because she said that she had eaten a fox demon's inner core and gained the fox demon's memories, which caused her personality to change.
It turns out that there was no inner core at all from beginning to end.
"Then you guys really are a bunch of useless trash."
Huang Lin lowered the corners of his lips, seemingly embarrassed and annoyed by such a comment.
Bai Xiuming, however, paid no attention to his emotional fluctuations and asked coldly, "You're saying that she and Bai Zhanhuang are in love?"
“Of course,” Huang Lin replied quickly, “She has already pledged her life to the prince.”
"We pledged our lives to each other..."
Before Bai Xiuming could finish speaking, Huang Lin heard the sound of the cell door opening and watched as the other person stepped into the cell.
What are you going to do?
Bai Xiuming crouched down beside Huang Lin. He grabbed the chain on the other's hand with one hand, and the specially made chain cracked under the force before breaking completely.
With the chains broken, the sealing formation inscribed on them became ineffective, and his inner energy began to circulate within his body, allowing his power to return once more.
This familiar feeling almost brought Huanglin to tears of joy.
However, the next moment, a hand grabbed his wrist, and a powerful internal energy that did not belong to him rushed into his body, like a surging flood, relentlessly impacting his long-parched meridians.
Unable to withstand the immense and domineering internal energy, Huang Lin felt a sharp pain in his arm, as if it were about to explode.
Looking at Huang Lin, whose forehead veins were bulging and eyes were wide open, Bai Xiuming's voice was completely flat: "Didn't Bai Zhanhuang tell you that as long as you cooperated, he could let you leave Zhenyu Prison?"
Huang Lin slowly turned his head to look at Bai Xiuming, who was standing close by.
A mocking smile crept across Bai Xiuming's lips as he slowly said, "His Majesty had already granted his request and released you."
Huang Lin was overjoyed, as the excruciating pain in his body seemed to lessen somewhat.
However, the joy vanished completely the next moment. He heard Bai Xiuming say, "But you are a wolf in sheep's clothing, and you have betrayed the Emperor's grace. Not only did you secretly plot to escape from prison, but after being discovered, you also attempted to attack the Mingjing Division's Commander-in-Chief, and were subsequently killed on the spot. Do you think this ending is worthy of you?"
"No, no, I didn't..." Even after being captured and imprisoned in the Mingjing Division, Huang Lin had never been so terrified.
Because he always held onto the idea that the prince would take him out of here, he never imagined that one day he might die here.
But the person in front of him clearly didn't want him to leave the town prison alive.
"You can't do that; the emperor won't allow it."
"Heh..." Bai Xiuming sneered, "Now, tell me how Achan and Bai Zhanhuang fell in love and how they secretly pledged their lives to each other? If you say a single wrong word, I will sever one of your meridians."
Huang Lin truly felt threatened. His cultivation was his life. If his meridians were severed, his cultivation would plummet, and even if he got out, he wouldn't have a good life.
He offended many people in the Northern Wilderness Prince's Mansion. Without any cultivation, the prince would not favor him, and his fate would be extremely tragic.
At this moment, even though those words were all on the prince's orders, he dared not continue lying for his own sake and could only tell the truth: "No, there was no mutual affection at all."
The excruciating pain in his arm made him scream, and his tone became increasingly urgent: "Everything I said is true. That fox demon only came to the palace to ask the prince to help find someone. The prince likes her and wants to marry her!"
"She didn't want to marry Bai Zhanhuang?"
"No, she didn't know anything about it."
Bai Xiuming found it somewhat absurd: "She didn't know, yet you're hunting her down?"
Huang Lin was so focused on making excuses that he didn't notice the chilling look in the other person's eyes: "We were just following orders. Besides, she's a demon. So what if she dies?"
Unlike Huang Wu, Huang Lin did not think there was anything wrong with what he did that day. The only mistake was that the prince was bewitched by the fox demon. He blamed the Dowager for not killing the fox demon before she entered the mansion, otherwise the Dowager and the prince would not have fallen out.
Bai Xiuming suddenly released his grip on his wrist and stood up: "Good answer."
Just as Huang Lin breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly caught sight of a large hand slapping directly at the top of his head.
"No--"
Huang Lin screamed and raised his hands to block, but his resistance was futile. His arms were instantly shattered, his mind went blank as if the sky were falling, and then he lost consciousness completely.
Bai Xiu straightened his sleeves and stepped out of the prison cell.
In the cell behind him, Huang Lin's body collapsed with a crash.
The jailers in the town heard the shouts and rushed over, only to find a mangled corpse lying in the cell.
"My lord." The jailers remained expressionless and bowed to Bai Xiuming in unison.
"The suspect, Huang Lin, attempted to take a prison guard hostage and escape from prison, but was discovered by this officer and shot dead on the spot."
"Your Excellency is wise."
"Thank you so much for saving my life, sir."
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